Travis Bubenik
All Things Considered Host & Big Bend ReporterTravis has waltzed across Texas throughout his career in journalism, covering everything from pipeline protests in the Big Bend and oilfield flaring in the Permian Basin to Gulf Coast hurricanes and courtroom battles all over the state.
A Houston native and University of Texas alum, he got his start in public radio as an intern at Marfa Public Radio, where he later served as the station’s first full-time Morning Edition host and reporter.
Travis’ reporting on the Texas energy industry and its environmental footprint has frequently appeared on NPR and public radio’s Marketplace. During his time at Courthouse News, a national outlet focused on the courts and litigation, he closely followed legal battles prompted by the Covid-19 pandemic and the pandemic’s toll on communities across West Texas.
His dog Valentine is indeed named after the town.
-
The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department is advising the public to be on the lookout for sick or dead birds on their properties, after the infectious disease Trichomoniasis was spotted in doves in the Trans-Pecos and Rolling Plains regions of the state. Experts say this disease, unlike the bird flu, is not a threat to humans or pets.
-
The proposal stems from a yearslong push for stronger mountain lion protections from Texas conservationists.
-
City officials are considering changes to local zoning rules that would allow people to live in buildings currently restricted to commercial or industrial use. That’s already happening in some instances, but officials say formalizing it could lead to new housing options.
-
The McDonald Observatory in Fort Davis plans to be open with small, sun-safe telescopes available for viewing the partial eclipse, which should be visible in the Big Bend and Permian Basin between noon and 3 p.m.
-
Park officials are planning major changes for how and when visitors will be able to access one of the park’s most popular hiking areas during the course of a $22 million project to rebuild the Chisos Mountain Lodge.
-
Local police have been warning about an uptick in drug overdose incidents believed to have involved fentanyl, the deadly opioid that killed more than 2,100 people in Texas last year alone, according to state data.
-
The lawsuit accuses the reality TV star of falsely claiming in a YouTube video that tables at her skincare company’s office were designed by the late minimalist artist Donald Judd.
-
Fort Stockton-based Belding Farms had sought the stricter rules under a new state law allowing landowners to petition local groundwater districts for rule changes.
-
Belding Farms, con sede en Fort Stockton, había solicitado que se implementaran normas más estrictas en virtud de una nueva ley estatal que permite a los propietarios de tierras solicitar cambios en las normas a los distritos locales de aguas subterráneas.
-
Sergio Menchaca Pizarro, known as “El Menchaca,” was arrested near Presidio, Texas last summer and initially faced drug smuggling charges. A new indictment lays out his alleged role as an Ojinaga-area leader with the La Línea cartel.